Fire-extinguishing bomb.



A. L. COLE.

FIRE EXTINGUISHING BOMB.

APPLICATION FILED mmzs. 1915.

1,149,975. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

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3% M Jim 6% (swif 4 5 (34 m If jar/e ifivrv ALBERT L. COLE, or AUBURNDALE,MASSACHUSETTS, nssreuonsor ONE-HALF TO; FRANK o. PA.RME1\TTER, or GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ra ers.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBE T L; CoLE,fa

citizen. of the United States, residing at Auburndale, in the countyof Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Extin guishing Bombs, of which'the'following is a, speclfication, reference belnghad thereln to thefacoompanying d'rawingsl- This invention relates to an automatic fire extinguisher and more particularlyto .a fire extinguish ng bomb whlch sadapted to explode and scatter the fire extinguishing fiuid when the temperature in the room or space where the bomb is located reaches afpredetermined 13011113." I

Heretofore itha'sjbeen customary to employ what are known as 1 sprinkler f systems consisting of an rran ement of pipes communicating with a source of supply of fire extinguishing fluid, generally water, and

provided with a seriesof outlets closed by fusible plugs, so that when a fire occurs and the temperature reaches a predetermined point the plug is melted and the fireextinguishing fluid allowed to flow out. This system is open to the objection'that even 7 after the fire isextinguished, the sprinkling of. the fire extinguishing fluid continues until thesystem is shutoff at some central point, th'ereby"frequently entailing a heavy loss or damage from water. '.In addition to the foregoing objection,{suc1 1 systems re- ,quire 'anelab'orate arrangement of plpes and valves and are expensive tounstall and to maintain. I

The main objectofthe present invention is to provide a fire extinguishing device of simple and low cost of constructionwhich will explode automatically toscatter fireextinguishing fluid oVer'the-fire when the temperature in the room or space where it is located reaches a predetermined point.

Another object ofthe inventionis to pro vide a device which isentirely self-contained and which therefore may be installed when ever required eithersingly orin groups; and

eitheron ceilingsor on walls:

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic fire extinguisher which will not freeze at low temperatures,

so that it may beused-in unheated buildings where'the ordinary systememploying water would freeze.

of the bomb plate In thepreferred embodiment of the present invention the receptacle "for containing rrnn-nxrrneursnrne BOMB.

Specification of Letters I'atent. Paten te d Aug 10 1915. Application filed. January 23, '19 15.f' Seria11Io. 4,049

' In the accompanying drawings illustratingin preferred form'an embodiment of the 'ST'L S F Q;

presentinvention, Figure 1 is' a sidefeleya- -tion, partly in section, of my fire extinguish- 'i'ng bomb "shown as applied to a ceiling,

Fig. 2 is side elevation of the same shown as'applied to a; bracket secured to a partitlonwall; andFig. 3 is'a bottom plan View the fire extinguishing compound is shown in the drawings as a depressed globular glass bottle or bomb 5, of suflicient frangibllity' to break when acted upon internally by a predetermined expansive force, and is provided with a neck 6 threaded externally.

The orifice of the neck of the-bottle is closed and made air tight by a cork stopper 7 A plate 8, having a depending central portion 9 threaded internally for the reception therein of the neck of therecepta'cle, is adapted to' be secured by means of screw's10 to the ceilng 11 of the roomin which the extinguisher is to 'be'used, or toa bracket 12 when'the extinguisher is to be secured to the partition wall 18, andseryes' to maintain the receptacle inoperative position. A metal screen or net 14 entirely surrounding the receptacle is suspended from the bomb plate by hooks 15 ;made of soft metal, which maybe readily brought into'position for insertion through "the loops 16 on the'net and then bentup {against the .plate toprevent the hoops form slipping over the 'endsof the hooks, .as is, shown in Figs. 1 and 2; This net serves to prevent the glass of the'receptacle, when it "is broken, from falling to the floor, and also protects the bomb 4 from injury at ordinary The -fire extinguishing compound maybe of any usual and well known composition suitable for the purposes of thisdiiivention. -It must,'howeyer, besides possessing those properties which are incidentto fire extinguishing compounds in general be possessed of the following properties; i It must be" readily volatilizable and when it has been converted into a' gaseous. state ,it must be heavier than the atmosphere so that itwill settle. Its ready volatilization causes it to exert a strong expansive force upon thereeptacle in which it is. confined when subjected to heat. For ordinary purposes the strength of the receptacle and the expansive force of the fire extinguishing coin.-

' pound must be such that when the temperature of the room in which the receptacle is placed has reached 150 degrees Fah.,the expansion of the compound will burst the receptacle and be dispersed into the room. Moreover the fire extinguishing compound must be of such nature that when the receptacle or bomb is burst and the compound is scattered or dispersed into the room, if it is not entirely converted into gas by the heat arising from thefire, that part of it whiclrfalls onto the fire in the liquid form will then be converted into gas so that whether the fire extinguishing compoundbe converted into gas-immediately upon the bursting of the bomb orupon the compound reaching the-fire ina'liquidstate the heat will cause it to forma thick heavy gaseous V blanket somewhat heavier than they atmosphere of the room and, therefore, capable of 5 forming a blanket impenetrable by the flames of the fire and "thereby acting to prevent the flames from reaching the oxygen in the air so thatthe fire will be suffocated and extinguished. o

Any fire extinguishing fluid having the foregoing characteristicsmay be used in connection with my invention and one such fluid which I found satisfactory for this purpose is acetylene tetrachlorid the chemical formula of which is C H Ch.

The operation of the automatiofire extinguishing bomb is as follows: The bombs are secured to convenient and preferred parts of theroom it is desired to protect against fire.- Now, upon the outbreak of a fire the temperature of the room in the immediate 'vicinity'of the fire rises and inasmuch as air .is a very poor conductor of heat, the air immediately above the fire rises perpendicutherefore, the bomb more nearly above the spot where the fire is, will be brought into action first and when thetemperature around about the bomb has "reached about one hundred and fifty degrees Fah. the expansive force of the fire extinguishing compound as itattempts to vaporize will cause the receptacle to break and the compound to be .dis persed into the The heat will instantly convert a portion of the escaping compound into a heavy gaseous blanket, which will settle and which togetherwith the gaseous blanket formed by the portion of the compound Which falls onto the fire ina. liquid state, will suffocate and extinguish the fire. If the fire is a'small one and the gaseous blanket settling down over itis sufiicient to extinguish it, only one of the fire extinguishing bombs will have been brought into ac- 'tion and thesdamage will be limited to-the larly more readily-than it spreads laterally,

spot; covered by the blaze. In this respect it will be seen that thepresent invention has great advantages over a water system in which, when one of "the units has been brought into action by the heat, the water continues to flow from the unit until it is turned ofi at the central reservoir, often causing far more damage than the fire itself. Moreover considerable waste in water is eliminated, which in itself is no inconsiderable saving. WVhen the receptacle containing the compound breaks, it is prevented from falling to the floor by the metal screen whose mesh is fine enough to prevent the escape. of any but very small particles of glass, so that the danger of falling glass is eliminated. v i

It is to be observed that inasmuch as the fire extinguishing bomb is self-contained and individual it can consequently be used in Verysmall apartments, as acloset, for example, unconnected with a main system. It

will, therefore be seen thatthe' sprinkler is suitablefor use in private dwellings and residences. This individuality of the bomb, however, and adaptability for use in small apartments, does not prevent it from forming a unit of an aggregation of bombs sufficient in number to replace a large fire extinguishing system, so that if the fire is of sufiicientsize, all the bombs maybe brought into play in unison. f

Another advantage possessed by the automatic fire extingiushing bomb embraced by this invention lies in the very low freezing point of fire extinguishing compounds.

This incidental property of fire extinguishing compounds in general, and therefore of the compound used in the furtherance of the objects of this invention enables the bomb to be employed for protection against I fire in buildings where a water springler system is useless in cold weather; and also dispenseswlth the necessity and consequent expense of mamtammg suflicient warmth in other buildings to prevent the freezing of the water sprinkler system, in order to insure proper automatic fire protection.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is I 1. An automatic fire extinguisher comprisinga highly frangible sealed container having a compound confined therein, of a ohar' acter when liberated to extinguishfire, said compound being expanslble imderabnormal heat tov a degree capable of shattering the f container and disseminating itself into spray of the container thereby and dispersing of the compound.

3. A fire extinguisher comprisingafrangible container having a fill opening, means for closing said fill opening, means for mounting the container in place whereby the closure is held in sealed relation to the container, and a fire extinguishing compound in the container of a character to expand under heat and shatter the body of the container.

4. A fire extinguisher comprisinga frangible container having a fill opening, means for closing said fill opening, means for supporting said container in place whereby the said closing means are held in sealed relation to the container, and a fire extinguishing compound in said container of a character to expand under abnormal heat to shatter the body of said container and to disseminate itself in the form of a spray or A gas over a relatively large area.

5. In a fire extlngulsher, a support havlng a depending threaded central portion, a con tainer for a fire extinguishing compound, a

stopper for said containeigand a threaded portion on the closed end of the container adapted to engage the threaded portion of the support, a part of the support overlying the stopper to hold the latter in place.

6. In a fire extinguisher, a container having a fill opening within a couplingportion, a support having a complementary coupling a portion, and a closure for thefill opening held in place by engagement ofthe support therewith when the parts arecoupled.

' 7..In a fire extinguisher, acontainerhaving a fill opening within a coupling portion, a support having a complementary coupling portion, a closure for thefill opening held in place by engagement of the support therewith when the parts are coupled, the

with when the parts are coupled, the coupling portions comprising interlocking hollow stems one fitting within the other, and

the outer stem portion being closed at its" base by "a part of the support. i

'9. In a fireextinguisher, a support having a hollow receiving part, a container for a fire extinguishing compound having a stem adapted to interlock with said receiving part, said stem havinga fill opening, and a closure for the fill opening adapted to be held in place as an incident to the interlocking of the stem and receiving portions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this the twelfth day of January, 1915.

Witnesses: I a

' A. ENGLISH, E, F. UNIAO.

Copies of this patent maybe' obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iate'nts,

" Washington, D. C.

ALBERT L. COLE. 

